Currently, Burnett is the executive producer of six network television shows: The Voice (NBC), Survivor (CBS), Shark Tank (ABC), Kevin Hart's TKO (CBS), Jamie Foxx's Beat Shazam (FOX), and The World's Best (CBS) with host James Corden and judges, Drew Barrymore, RuPaul, and Faith Hill. Burnett is also the executive producer of the cable series The Contender (EPIX) and Lucha Underground (The El Rey Network). In 2017, Burnett had timeslot winning shows on six nights out of seven.

Burnett-produced TV series have been nominated for a total of 143 Emmys.

As Chairman of MGM Worldwide Television he oversees scripted television shows including Fargo (FX), The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu), Vikings (History), Get Shorty (EPIX) and Condor.

In October 1982, Burnett emigrated to the United States, where his friend Nick Hill, who had emigrated from the UK earlier, was working as a nanny and chauffeur. Hill knew of an open position for a live-in nanny with the Jaeger family in affluent Beverly Hills. Despite having no experience as a nanny, Burnett went on the interview. The Jaegers, realizing the advantage of having a nanny and security at the same time, hired him. After a year of working for the Jaegers, he moved on to another family in Malibu, California, taking care of two boys for $250 a week. He was eventually given a position in the insurance office owned by Burt, the father of the two boys. Two years later, Burnett rented a portion of a fence at Venice Beach in Los Angeles, and sold T-shirts for $18 each during weekends. Realizing he made more money selling T-shirts, he left his insurance job.[6] In 1991, Burnett, and four others joined a French adventure competition, the Raid Gauloises. Afterward, Burnett saw a business opportunity in holding similar competitions. He purchased the format rights and brought a similar competition, Eco-Challenge, to America. Eco-Challenge launched Burnett's career as a television producer.[3]

Burnett is best known for producing the hit reality show Survivor, which premiered in the summer of 2000 and was the most watched summer series since Sonny and Cher.[7]Survivor was named the Number 1 reality series of all time by Entertainment Weekly in 2009.[8]

In 2004, NBC premiered The Apprentice, a reality television series in which contestants competed for a job under real estate magnate Donald Trump.[9]The Apprentice spawned numerous licensed international versions of the show.

As well as his ongoing productions, Burnett and his wife, actress Roma Downey, produced The Bible, a 10-hour History Channel drama based upon stories of the Bible.[11]The Bible became the No. 1 new series on cable TV in 2013[12] and was the No. 1 series in Canada, Spain, and Portugal.[13] In total, with subsequent airings, The Bible was seen by more than 100 million viewers.[14]

After the success of The Bible, Burnett and Downey started developing more faith-based scripted series. A.D. The Bible Continues premiered on NBC on Easter Sunday 2015, and The Dovekeepers miniseries aired on CBS in Spring 2015.

In September 2014, MGM acquired a 55 percent interest in One Three Media and LightWorkers Media. The two companies were consolidated into a new film and television company, United Artists Media Group which was then acquired fully by MGM in 2015.

In December 2015, Burnett was named president of MGM Television and Digital Group, signing a five-year deal. Burnett's appointment was set up to occur simultaneously with the closing of MGM's acquisition of the remaining 45 percent of Hearst's, Burnett's and Roma Downey‘s interests in United Artists Media Group (UAMG), which will be absorbed under the MGM Television Group umbrella. MGM Television will now have numerous unscripted and scripted television shows airing on network and cable or in production including: The Voice (NBC); Survivor (CBS); Shark Tank (ABC); Beyond the Tank (ABC); Celebrity Apprentice (NBC); Fargo (FX);Vikings (HISTORY); Teen Wolf (MTV); 500 Questions (ABC); The People's Choice Awards (CBS); LIGHT TV , Lucha Underground (El Rey Network), and America's Greatest Makers (INTEL/Turner).[15] In June 2018, MGM appointed Burnett at Chairman of MGM Worldwide Television.

In January 2004, Burnett began dating Roma Downey. In November 2006, while the two were vacationing with their children in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, he proposed to her.[16] They wed on 28 April 2007 in their Malibu home. The ceremony was officiated by Downey's former co-star, Della Reese.[17]

He and Downey are heavily involved with philanthropic organizations Operation Smile and Compassion International.[18] In 2014, they announced a fundraising plan called Cradle of Christianity that aims to raise $25 million to help Iraqi and Syrian Christians and other minorities displaced by ISIL survive that upcoming winter.[19]

Burnett was previously married to Dianne J. Burnett (née Valentine); they have two sons, James and Cameron.[20] The couple filed for legal separation in September 2002 and a judgment for legal separation was granted in December 2003.[20][21] They later divorced in 2006.[when?]

In October 2018, the Los Angeles City Attorney rejected a criminal complaint by actor Tom Arnold against Burnett following an incident in September 2018, where Burnett was allegedly involved in a "physical altercation" with Arnold at the Evening Before The Emmy party. The Attorney’s Office cited insufficient evidence in declining the case.[22] According to "Variety," Tom Arnold claimed Burnett "went apeshit." Burnett's wife Roma Downey tweeted a photograph of a dark bruise on her hand that she claims she got when Arnold "ambushed" Burnett. One anonymous witness told TMZ that Arnold initiated the fight.[23]

In 2004, Time called Burnett one of the Most Influential People in the World Today.[24] Burnett was also named "Philanthropist of the Year" by the Reality Cares Foundation. He has won both Brandweek's "Marketer of the Year Award", the prestigious Rose d’Or Frapa Format Award, the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award and the Norman Lear Award from the Producers Guild of America.

In 2013, The Voice, Shark Tank and The Bible were nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards; The Voice won for Outstanding Reality – Competition Program. The Voice and Shark Tank were nominated at the 2015 Critics’ Choice Television Awards, at which Shark Tank won for Best Reality Series.

Omarosa Manigault, a former Apprentice contestant and White House aide, claimed in her book "Unhinged" that Donald Trump is a “racist” who uses the “N-word.” Specifically, she alleges Trump used the N-word “multiple times” during the filming of The Apprentice. Tom Arnold, another former Apprentice contestant, hinted at something similar when he told Seattle radio station KIRO that there were outtakes of Trump saying “every bad thing ever, every offensive, racist thing ever.” Omarosa suggested that Burnett and his production company were in the possession of a series of tapes that could damage the President. On August 13, 2018, Trump tweeted a repudiation of her claim.[32][33]